Race Coverage
Bling Queen Victorious at Eagan...
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Monday, 05 February 2018 23:10
LIFE TIME LAKEVILLE INDOOR TRI - While the Chan race boasted a record turnout, the Lakeville event was able to basically match it's 2017 crowd. Seventy-one participants finished the event.
Leading the way for the guys was Superior Man and Ironman Arizona veteran ANDY AKASON, who won handily. His point total was 205, a full 13 points better than the runner-up.
Originally from Eau Claire, Andy lives in Rosemount now and is a personal trainer at LTF Eagan. He loves his Golden Retriever and believes, as we do, that "only real men listen to Taylor Swift." He watches "Game of Thrones" and admits to enjoying Sponge Bob. He uses Everyman Jack personal grooming products.
His co-winner was AMANDA NESBITT, a self-described "Bling Queen," who listens to "Good For Gary," an excellent cover band. She has awesome biceps (photo). FYI, she placed 3rd overall at Eagan.
Here are the Top 5 male and female finishers: ...
Great Day for the Weums....
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Sunday, 04 February 2018 23:10
Photo - The family that tris together: Lauren and Michael Weum.
LIFE TIME PLYMOUTH INDOOR TRIATHLON - Like the Chanhassen indoor, the Plymouth race on January 21 boasted a hearty turnout. Eighty-eight athletes finished the race, nineteen more than the previous year.
We hope this trend carries over to the outdoor season.
The men's winner was avid distance runner MICHAEL WEUM. Michael has traveled in South America and prefers Argentine food to Chilean cuisine, but agrees that the scenery in both countries is breathtaking.
Michael wasn't the only Weum to rock at Plymouth. His wife, LAUREN, placed 12th among the 52 women who competed.
Back to Michael: he prefers Jimmy Fallon to Stephen Colbert, pronounced "Cole-Bear," it's a French thing, and Jimmy Kimmel. Both he and his wife are into Christian music. We listened to one of their fave bands--"Sidewalk Prophets'--and liked them. Lauren agrees with us that the BBC's show, "Sherlock" needs to be a regular series. FYI, Benedict Cumberbatch is incredible as Sherlock....
Cell Phone Throwing is a Real Thing...
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Wednesday, 31 January 2018 23:10
LIFE TIME ST. LOUIS PARK INDOOR TRI - Though St. Louis Park's enrollment increase wasn't huge--7 addtional athletes in 2018--the general registration trend for Life Time's indoor events is encouraging. And we certainly hope that translates to larger fields this summer when the outdoor multi season gets underway.
A pair of guys with cool Scandinavian names battled for the top spot at SLP. Winning by a mere two points, thanks to his speed in the pool, was SOREN HUGGINS, whose first name should have a slash through the "o", shouldn't it? That would make it more Danishy or Norwegiany.
In 2nd was avid summer triathlete, JUKKA KUKKONEN.
What do we know about these guys? Huggins attended Bemidji State, where he studied business stuff. He's a mortgage underwriter now. A big Minnesota Wild fan, he loves Buffalo Wild Wings (Who doesn't?) more than life itself. He once drank a lot of Jager and dropped trow at a golf course.
As for Jukka, he's originally from the "Old Country," i.e. Savolinna, which is the 31st largest city in Finland. We're not making this up: Savoliina hosts the World Cell Phone Throwing Championships. In 2000, the event was won by Erno Riihela.
Jukka is a very cool guy with a very cool accent. He's a fan of John Mellencamp and is into fancy cars. He can jump pretty high, too, as he did at Square Lake in 2015 (photo)...
Record Turnout at Chanhassen Indoor!
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Monday, 29 January 2018 23:10
LIFE TIME CHANHASSEN INDOOR - The Life Time Fitness January indoor triathlons happened on the 21st. Today, we are covering the Chanhassen event. These races are uniquely scored:
Scoring Overview: The Indoor Triathlon is based on time rather than distance – meaning you receive points for going further in a specific period of time, not going faster over a fixed distance. Participants are graded on a curve. The furthest distance in each category gets the most points (actual number is based on total participants), the shortest receives 1 point, and your “score” for the discipline is based on the points you achieve. All three disciplines count equally toward your final score.
The star of the show for the Chanhassen women was ERIN LAHTI, who was also victorious here in 2017. Erin finished 3rd overall in '17, and 8th overall this time around. What needs to be noted is that last year's event had 27 finishers, wheras 89 (!) athletes competed this year. Erin is into cool hats and headbands, and sometimes hangs out with another Erin, Erin Ladendorf (photo), who is a HOOT and has an awesome haircut.
Lahti was impressive at Minneapolis Sprint last July, cracking the women's overall Top 10....
Sir Sean and Other King B Stuff...
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Sunday, 28 January 2018 23:10
KING BOREAS WINTER TRIATHLON - SEAN COOLEY is rocking a cool new "look" these days. With his new beard, which his girlfriend adores, he looks a bit like Sir Walter Raleigh, the guy who invented cigarettes. All Sean needs to complete the 16th century image is one of those collars that looks like an automotive air filter.
Perhaps his new look is fitting. After all, he is one of our region's multisport aristocrats, i.e. triathlon royalty. His 2017 TOY award is the equivalent of his being crowned King of Minnesota's multisporters, is it not?
He has also proven himself to be the King of winter triathlon, a result of earning the title of National Champion two of the last three years. In his non-winning year, he finished a close 2nd to JOEL LAFRANCE, who couldn't race this year due to the flu.
With LaFrance on the sidelines, Sean was the clear favorite, and was expected to win by a sizable margin, which he did. It started with a very solid run, and finished with one of the Top 3 ski splits in the event. It was what happened in between those two disciplines where he truly exercised his supremacy. Throwing down 18.3 mph on a fat bike is crazy. His closest challenger on the bike, breakout multisporter, JACOB KEEHAN of Maple Grove, was 1.5 mph slower....
Cooley & Pruszenski are National Champions...
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Saturday, 27 January 2018 17:15
By Cody Crowther (usatriathlon.org)
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Sean Cooley (St. Paul, Minn.) and Jordan Pruszenski (Anchorage, Alaska) earned overall national titles on Saturday at the USA Triathlon Winter Triathlon National Championships, leading 67 athletes in pursuit of national titles and Team USA spots in St. Paul.
